Early American Empires

Early American Empires

The oldest architectural monuments in the Americas are found in present-day Mexico and along the west coast of South America. Early civilizations there had neither iron tools not animals that could be trained to pull carts, yet the people constructed enormous stone buildings. The Omecs and later civilizations in Mexico such as the Toltecs and Aztecs lived in scattered farm villages. These peoples had one religion and their religious centers were cities of stone such as Teotihuacan, where temples stood on top of tall pyramids.

The peace-loving Mayan people lived in the rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and they also built their religious centers of stone. In the fifteenth century, the Incas ruled an empire 2,480 miles (4,000 km) long in the Andes mountains of Peru. Their many towns were united by paved roads and a fast mail system. Incan stonemasons cut, polished and fitted stones together so tightly that a knife blade will not slide between them even today.

Stairway of goods

Two sides of the pyramid have steep stairs. A row of carved masks of Chac, the god of rain, line both sides of the staircase.

Pyramid of the Sun

This pyramid, built in the third century in Teothuacan, Mexico, stands on a high platform and is surrounded by volcanoes. Stone covers a core of dirt and lava carried to the site by thousands of workers over a period of 30 years. Aztecs lived there centuries after its Teotihuacan builders had disappeared. They believed this pyramid had been built by the gods themselves.

Palace of the governors in Uxmal, Mexico, is decorated with carved serpents and the Mayan rain god Chac. Religious leaders lived in its cool corbel-vaulted rooms.

A Mexican God. Photo by Elena.

Pyramid of the Magician

The Mayans built their pyramids in Uxmal, Mexico, in the ninth century. It has an unusual oval shape and two temples at the top. The peoples of Mexico built high platforms, or pyramids, for their temples so they would be closer to the gods in the heavens.

At the top

The temples on the pyramid are stone replicas of Mayan Thatched huts. Gifts were offered before statues of gods inside the corbel-vaulted rooms.

The Citadel

Offerings were placed on this Chac Mool, a god sculpted as a man tying on his back, which sits near an eleventh-century Toltec pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico. The pyramid has a steep staircase on each side and a temple at the top.

Corbeled Roofs

A building constructed of stone posts and horizontal beams will collapse if the beams have to support heavy walls or if the posts are not set close enough together. Stone doorways and stone roofs or vaults can be built with small stones called corbels. Each stone lies on top of the last stone and has one end sticking out over the opening. Once the stones or corbels from both sides of the opening meet at the top, stones placed on top of the roof will hold it in place.

Did You Know?

The Pyramid of the Magician encloses three older temples. In Mexico, a new pyramid and temple often encased an earlier one. A completely furnished temple ready for use was discovered within the Pyramid of the Sun.

Incan Ruines

Important religious ceremonies took place in Machu Piccu, an Incan town high in the Andes mountains of Peru. The plain stone walls of important Incan buildings were covered with plates of pure gold.